The banks to contact about the Keystone XL pipeline funding

This article, with contact information, appeared in Yes! Magazine and the Nation of Change website today. I felt it important enough to share here, in its entirety. [NationofChange is reader-supported. Donate or give monthly.]

Of the more than 60 banks helping to finance the expansion of tar sands infrastructure, the indigenous-led environmental campaign Mazaska Talks has identified 17 as worst offenders. These banks have either financed all four currently proposed tar sands pipelines or they’ve headed up major multi-bank loans to the companies building them.

The proposed pipelines are the Keystone XL, Energy East, Trans Mountain, and Enbridge’s Line 3. All four begin in the tar sands of Alberta, Canada.

Back in November 2015, then-President Barack Obama rejected TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, saying it would create only a few dozen permanent jobs, would have no significant effect on U.S. energy security, and would damage America’s leadership role on climate change. President Donald Trump reversed that decision in March.

The indigenous-led Mazaska Talks campaign to stop the tar sands expansion is focusing on the financing of the pipelines.

“TransCanada doesn’t have the project-level loans to build the Keystone XL pipeline,” said Matt Remle, an activists and member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. “Our thought is to be proactive and stop the construction of Keystone now, before they start laying the pipeline down.”

Remle says he’s focused on convincing cities, tribes, and nonprofits to cut their ties with these banks. Cities that have divested or are in the process of divesting include: Seattle;Missoula, Montana; and the cities of Davis, Santa Monica, and San Francisco, in California. Individual divestment has moved more than $80 million from banks financing DAPL, and organizers would like to see similar effort directed at the tar sands financiers.

The organization 350 Seattle has been telling people to follow this script as an example:

Hello. I’m calling today to ask that Chase stop funding all new tar sands projects. Tar sands oil is the dirtiest form of fossil fuel on Earth, dirtier even than coal. All tar sands projects have been officially opposed by 121 First Nations and tribes. Former NASA Chief Scientist Jim Hansen has called the tar sands expansion represented by the Keystone XL ‘game over in the fight against climate change.’ Chase has no business financing tar sands, and I ask that Chase issue a public statement that it will not fund tar sands projects like the Keystone XL or Trans Mountain pipelines. Thank you for your time.

Activists have also been asking people to send banks that message through their Facebook pages.

Here are names of banks and their CEOs – along with their most recent phone numbers and email addresses, according to YES! research and ceoemail.com.

The following information was updated on May 11. Some banks will disconnect phones and disable email addresses. Contact us with adjustments that need to be made:submissions@yesmagazine.org.